DC Metro Area Internship Opportunities

Editorial Internships

About the Department

The Office of the Federal Register (OFR) provides access to the official text of:

Federal Laws

Presidential Documents

Administrative Regulations and Notices

Descriptions of Federal Organizations, Programs and Activities

We also administer the Electoral College and the Constitutional Amendment Process.

"The Office of the Federal Register is the one-stop location, whether online or in print, to keep abreast of all of the substantive actions of the executive branch and the Congress. It is an exciting and challenging place to be," said Charley Barth, director of the Federal Register.

Types of Internships

Assist in the cataloging and maintenance of the Office of Federal Register Legal Library.

The Office of the Federal Register maintains a library of its own publications, of materials filed
for Incorporation by Reference in the Code of Federal Regulations, and of related materials
necessary or useful for conducting research in the Federal Register system. Assistance is needed
in cataloging the collection, collecting appropriate additional materials for the library, organizing
the collection, and identifying and obtaining missing materials.

Proofread presidential documents for the Public Papers of the Presidents and the Weekly
Compilation of Presidential Documents.

Each week, dozens of oral and written transcripts of Presidential statements and copies of
materials issued by the White House Press Office are received by the Office of the Federal
Register for editing and publication. These materials are published because of their evidential,
informational, and historical value. The published versions must be perfectly true to the original
documents, and careful proofreading is required.

Assist in the conversion of the card file of executive orders and proclamations to an
electronic database.

The Office of the Federal Register maintains the only complete catalog of all executive orders
and proclamations issued by the President of the United States. The catalog is maintained in card
format. Because the cards contain information about both the subject of the orders and
proclamations and about existing orders and proclamations that they amend or supersede, this
catalog is a valuable research database. The Office needs assistance in making the database more
accessible through conversion to an electronic format.

Assist in the receiving and filing of Federal Register documents.

An average of 150 documents are received each day in the Office of the Federal Register for
public inspection and publication in a daily issue of the Federal Register. Before documents can
be put on public inspection, several administrative steps must be undertaken to ensure their
authenticity, their reference in various finding aids, and verification of technical compatibility
with Office publishing systems. Assistance is needed in this daily production effort, which will
expose an intern to the entire spectrum of federal rules, proposed rules, and notices that are
found in the daily issue of the Federal Register.

Assist in the creation of finding aids for Federal Register publications.

For the information contained in Federal Register publications to be useful, and for researchers
to be able to conduct research on the development of federal regulations, it is necessary that the
Office of the Federal Register develop and maintain adequate finding aids. Significant editorial
assistance is needed to make these finding aids both accurate and timely. An individual working
on finding aids will develop expert knowledge of the federal regulatory system and the
relationship between the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations.

How to Apply

A complete application package includes a cover letter stating the area of interest, a resume, official transcripts and a letter of recommendation from an educational faculty member.